Sodomy suspect set to take plea today

Philip Wood, when he appeared before Principal Magistrate Joe Omindo in a Nakuru Law Court on February 20, 2019. He is accused of defiling a 16-year-old boy on January 13, 2019 at Kiongororia in Nakuru County. (Harun Wathari, Standard)

A court has deferred plea-taking by a businessman accused of defiling a teenager to today after the prosecution sought to amend the charge sheet.

The prosecution requested that Philip Wood continues to be held as they made changes to the charge sheet, which they termed incomplete. Principal Magistrate Joe Omido directed that Wood be remanded at the Nakuru Central Police Station and accorded any necessary treatment after his lawyer, Steve Kabita, told the court the suspect needed medical attention.

Woods has been in police detention since his arrest last Friday for allegedly sodomising a 16-year-old boy on January 13 at Kiongororia in Gilgil. Mr Kabita had requested the court to release Wood on cash bail to allow him to seek treatment for diabetes.

But Mr Omido rejected Kabita's application and instead directed that the suspect be taken to the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital "if the need arises".